J. Edgar

Rating: 3
Genre: Adult Drama
Starring: Leonardo DeCaprio, Naomi Watts, Arnie Hammer, Judi Dench
Running Time: 2:17

This is a bad movie. It has neither educational nor entertainment value, and it drags on too long. I had hoped it would tell the story of how J. Edgar Hoover developed the FBI during his leadership of some 50 years. Instead, all we get is J. Edgar's dark side -- the influence of his domineering mother, the possible homosexual relationship with aide Clyde Tolson, the paranoid personality, the secret files on prominent people, etc.

We learn his monumental ego prevented him from giving credit to others, and that much of the favorable, publicity of the FBI was fabricated at the behest of J. Edgar. None of our heroes are flawless, but maybe a little balance would be helpful in our understanding of history. The only major case that gets much attention is the kidnapping of the baby of Charles Lindberg in the 1930's, and even here, doubt is cast as to the guilt of the convicted man.